Modesty Blaise

Monica Vitti as Modesty Blaise has such a thick Italian accent and such minimal acting skills you're never sure if she's inviting you to her bed or telling you she wants another helping of spaghetti. Joseph Losey, the director, has attempted a comedy thriller along the lines of a Jane Bond knock off. All he and his screenwriter, Evan Jones, have managed to wring out of such a stale idea, stale even in 1966, is lead-foot comedy dialogue, mannered characters which must have embarrassed the actors who played them, and an awkward, ham-handed, swinging style. Not only is what are supposed to be amusing send-ups not, the pace of the movie is as flaccid as a month-old cucumber Thank goodness Modesty Blaise, as Peter O'Donnell gave her to us, first in his comic strip and then in his novels, is indestructible. She don't need no Joseph Losey or Monica Vitti to bring her to life...just O'Donnell's words and our own imagination. O'Donnell was asked to write a screenplay based on his popular comic strip character. He did, turned it over to Losey, and watched while the script was re-written, changed, neutered and nudged until he, and just about everyone else, conceded that the caricature of Modesty in the film had almost no resemblance to the smart, shrewd, tough, resourceful woman O'Donnell created. The movie was made and flopped. O'Donnell took his original script, rewrote it as a novel titled Modesty Blaise and the novel was a big success. Here we have Modesty in awful Sixties styles (and with an awful Sixties soundtrack) hired by British intelligence to foil a plot by the criminal mastermind, Gabriel (Dirk Bogarde, in a performance he probably regretted for the rest of his life). A huge sum in diamonds is in play to secure a middle-east oil deal. Gabriel plans to heist the ice. It will be Modesty and her faithful friend, Willie Garvin (Terence Stamp), against the swish, effete Gabriel and his band of vicious exaggerations, ranging from a mad accountant to a collection of pretty young men. Keep an eye out for Mrs. Fothergill, played by Rosella Falk. She's another lush plate of lasagna, one with thighs of steel and the habits of a psychopathic dominatrix. That's a lotta pasta. Gabriel rather cares for her. If you're as fond of Modesty as I am, watch this movie to see for yourself the depths to which some creative types fall while confusing their talent with talent. Losey even has Modesty and Willie sing a jaunty partnership song. Vitti and Stamp are not dubbed. They are stunningly awkward. So's the song. The movie is a misbegotten product from the casting to the writing to the direction. I'm giving this movie one star, not because I'm fond of the real Modesty, but because Losey and Jones, with their screenplay and direction, made such a long (nearly two hours), confused, unconvincing and joyless film. All will not be in vain, however, if you are intrigued by Peter O'Donnell's erotic, original and often violent creation. Start your love affair with Modesty by reading his first novel, Modesty Blaise. You'd have to be a dried, stale old prune not to want Modesty to come to your aid and comfort, with Willie Garvin, her knife-wielding platonic best friend, as back-up for the aid part.

Sadly, Joseph Losey misses the mark with this comic-book tease featuring the luscious Italian beauty, Monica Vitti. Both director and star are more adept at delivering brooding, ambivalent sexuality instead of the in-your-face flirting necessary to make this spy spoof a success. This material wasn't for Losey, but it's not a total loss. The cast is worth watching, particularly Bogarde hamming it up in gay style, and John Dankworth's music score is a retro delight! MODESTY makes a fine 2nd bill with BARBARELLA.

I have owned and loved many mod sixties spy flicks and can say with clear conscience that they aren't that bad. Sure, the genre is horrible and the feel of it grates on the nerves of anyone not obsessed with it. But MODESTY BLAISE is something else altogether. This movie is bad, really bad. Were it not for "Mystery Science Theater 3000" selections like THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES...etc or MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, this would be the worst movie made in the sixties. Joseph Losey directs as if he's never seen a movie before. The camera's wanderings are irritating to say the least. The plot is a literal joke. At moments it seems to want to be a French New Wave movie, but can't muster the thought or the wit. The rare attempts to actually use spy movie cliches are even stranger than the pop non-sense that fills the rest of the picture. Monica Vitti and Terence Stamp are horribly misused (it's a rare pain to hear them try to sing). The camera is hand held for much of the film, and very poorly handled. Most of the film does not contain music, or any other sound. Here is a random survey of the odd and annoying things in this film: a gratuitous band of Arabs, mime torture, an extremely feeble water-mine, a missile that shoots a laser, colored smoke, and an op-art fortress on a Greek isle. If this description makes the movie sound good to you, please heed my warning that this is not a spy movie, not sexy, not exciting, not smart, and it is definitely not an art film. Hell, it ends with the dullest anti-climax I've ever seen. If you want to see a fun Bond-spoof, watch MURDERER'S ROW or OUR MAN FLINT. If you want an artistic new wave picture watch ALPHAVILLE or SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER. And if you want a real-deal spy movie watch FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE or THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. Whatever you do, don't watch this. It's a failure, and a pain, and a curse.

A spy satire from Joseph Losey? Losey's films are always rich in texture but are completely alienating. His askewed vision--usually defended by the intelligentsia set--leaves viewers out of the mix, and one is left to ponder what the hell he was trying to say. "Modesty Blaise" is, sadly, no different. Loosely-structured (to say the least), the plot has something to do with curvy thief-turned-secret agent protecting diamond shipment from a mama's boy villain. James Bond fanatics won't find much to bond with here: film's trick cuts and mod settings cannot detract from limply-staged, perplexing puzzle of a "comedy". In the lead, Monica Vitti is an intriguing presence but she has no music in her voice (in fact, she sounds dubbed). Director Losey was in way over his head here, and he drags everyone down with the ship. * from ****

(This review may have minor spoilers, as if that matters) I feel I must come to the defence of one of my favorite literary heroines. Modesty Blaise, as originally conceived by Peter O'Donnell for a long-running comic strip and series of novels, was the feminine reply to James Bond, and in many ways a superior character. She had wit, charm, poise, and a unique relationship with her partner, Willie Garvin. Unfortunately, this movie adaptation preserves almost none of the charm that made the Modesty Blaise stories so entertaining. And now that this travesty has been released on DVD, I fear O'Donnell will lose scores of fans unnecessarily. That's not to say that Modesty Blaise: the movie doesn't have its moments. Indeed, there are some signs of the original characters, even though O'Donnell has said only a single line of his original script remained in the finished product. Terence Stamp is almost perfect as knife-throwing Willie Garvin (brunette hair notwithstanding) and, when she has her dark wig on, Monica Vitti is a dead ringer for her comic strip counterpart. At least so long as she keeps her mouth shut. Unfortunately, Vitti just isn't able to pull this off. Her accent is all wrong for the part -- she should have followed in the footsteps of most Bond girls before her and been dubbed, and she just isn't that convincing in the action sequences. And without this glue, the whole movie falls apart. The script reads like an Avengers reject, with only a sparking of the wit and originality of O'Donnell's work. A number of major errors are made with the characters -- Willie is shown shooting guns, which he never touched in the books, and even worse, Willie and Modesty fall in love! The one aspect of the books and comic strip that sets Modesty Blaise apart from all other fictional heroes is the relationship between Modesty and Willie that goes far beyond romantic entanglements. The only thing I can compare it to is the relationship between Mulder and Scully on The X-Files -- and watch how fast that show died when those characters became lovers. And don't ask me where that giant scorpion tattoo on Modesty's leg came from! But the one element that made me just want to be sick is the song. No, not the theme, which isn't bad. I mean the love song Willie and Modesty start crooning FOR NO REASON twice in the film -- once during a driving scene, and again during the final battle. The less said about this the better. Modesty Blaise came out in 1966, near the start of the "Bond spoof" cycle that included OK Connery (1967) and Casino Royale (1967). Both those films are infinitely preferable to this. I can only hope we don't have to wait long before a serious Modesty Blaise film is made -- if done right, it will blow 007 off the screen.

source: Modesty Blaise

Trailer—Modesty Blaise

Modesty Blaise

MODESTY BLAISE is another of those excruciatingly unfunny spy spoofs of the 1960s, similar in tone to CASINO ROYALE from the same decade. I have no idea why these were made, given that all of the spy movies I've watched from the era - Bond movies included - feature plenty of tongue-in-cheek as well as open comedy throughout. Anyway, this one's based on the popular comic strip character and involves our ditzy femme fatale heroine going after a crime boss, played by a white-haired Dirk Bogarde. There's plenty of goofy humour, which never really works, as well as familiar actors slumming it and sunny locations. A pity, then, that the script is so poor, and that they picked an actress for her looks rather than acting ability.

A spy satire from Joseph Losey? Losey's films are always rich in texture but are completely alienating. His askewed vision--usually defended by the intelligentsia set--leaves viewers out of the mix, and one is left to ponder what the hell he was trying to say. "Modesty Blaise" is, sadly, no different. Loosely-structured (to say the least), the plot has something to do with curvy thief-turned-secret agent protecting diamond shipment from a mama's boy villain. James Bond fanatics won't find much to bond with here: film's trick cuts and mod settings cannot detract from limply-staged, perplexing puzzle of a "comedy". In the lead, Monica Vitti is an intriguing presence but she has no music in her voice (in fact, she sounds dubbed). Director Losey was in way over his head here, and he drags everyone down with the ship. * from ****